MARIJUANA USE DOESN'T CAUSE DEATHS?

I read with interest how the Washington state Legislature recently
approved a law allowing small craft alcohol distilleries to operate in
Washington, allowing citizens to produce up to 20,000 gallons of
intoxicating spirits per year ["Former engineer to produce vodka,"
NWMonday," Oct. 26].

Alcohol use is one of the leading causes of death in the United
States, killing as many as 85,000 Americans per year, not counting car
accidents or alcohol-related violence.

Marijuana, however, has not been blamed for a single death from
overdose or toxic reaction after more than 5,000 years of use.

Why can Washington citizens produce one of the deadliest drugs around
for profit, when in some counties the sick and dying are still being
prosecuted for growing the medical marijuana they need to manage the
ravaging effects of their disease?

Where are our public-health priorities?

The hypocrisy is so thick you could not cut it with a chain
saw.

Vivian McPeak, Seattle